ISRA Mourns the death of Dr. Mansur Esqudero

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Dr. Mansur Esqudero- the head of the Muslims community of Spain.

It is with great sadness and grief we are reporting the passing away of Dr. Shaykh Mansur Escudero, President of Junata Islamica (The head of the Muslim community in Spain). inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un! Dr. Mansur was 63 years old. He passed away on Monday October 4, while offering Salat due to a heart attack.

In an statement released today Sayyid Zayn Al Abedin founder and president of ISRA said, "The Muslim Ummah has lost a great beacon of knowledge and spirituality. He was a selfless promoter of peace and compassion based on Islamic spiritual values. He was also a proponent of a tasawwuf based Sunni Islam which he believed was the heritage of the Prophet for the ummah. He was the embodiment of the Prophetic akhlaq (comportment). He was a scholar and a leader promoting peaceful co existence between Muslims and people of other faiths in Europe and all over the world".

ISRA was blessed to have his love, blessings and recognition of its work. During his visits to the United states he met with ISRA predsident Sayyid Zayn in Moncks Corner South Carolina twice during the conferences organized by Shaykh Harun Al Faqir Faye ( who serves as an Advisor to ISRA) and expressed his support for ISRA's work. He also met Sayyid Zayn in New York peace conference organized by Shaykh Ahmed Tiijani Ben Omar, another of ISRA's advisors and reconfirmed his admiration and support for ISRA.

In a statement of condolence ISRA has declared " Today our hearts and souls are praying for him asking Allah (swt) to grant him the closest place to Himself in His abode of mercy and compassion and heal the hearts and souls of loved ones he left behind. Aameen !"

The President of the Junta Islámica in Spain and founder of the Spanish Muslim community, Mansur Escudero, is to be buried today, Monday, in his native town of Almodóvar del Río. The town cemetery has an area of Islamic burials.

A medicine graduate, he converted to Islam in 1979 and led the campaign for shared prayer in the Córdoba Cathedral/Mosque. He died of a heart attack on Sunday while at prayer. He was 63.

Many individuals and organisations have expressed their condolences, including the Junta de Andalucía and the Ministry for Justice, with the spokesman for the Islamic Junta, Isabel Romero, describing Mansur Escudero as ‘A grand tolerant human being, open to everyone and distant from all dogmas’.

The news has been a blow to the Islamic community in Spain as it was not known that Escudero suffered from any disease, as confirmed by Romero, who said that, above all, Mansur will be remembered as "a great human being: tolerant, open to all and away from any dogmatism. "

Noting that Mr Escudero was one of the signatories to the Agreement of Cooperation between the Spanish State and the Islamic Commission of Spain in 1992, Romero has emphasized the defense of Mansur of shared prayers in the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, and his integrated vision of all religious faiths.

The death of Mansur Escudero has caused all sorts of reactions; amongst institutions that have sent official condolences are the Junta de Andalucía and the Ministry of Justice, as indicated by the spokesman of the Islamic Board.

For now, this community will be led by Vice President Abdelkarim Carrasco, a personal friend of Mansur.

Born in Almáchar (Málaga) on November 7, 1947 he completed his undergraduate studies at the Jesuit college of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Malaga.

Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Complutense University of Madrid (1973), he made a specialty of Neuropsychiatry at the Mental Health Center of Cordoba (1976) under the direction of Dr. Castilla del Pino, with whom he worked for seven years.

In 1989 he directed his efforts toward organizational work of the Muslims in Spain and created the Islamic Board of Spain. He was considered to be one of the main spokesmen for the Islamic faith in Spain.

An activist for democratic freedom during the dictatorship, he was a Muslim convert who accepted Islam in 1979 and in 1980 founded the first Spanish Muslim community, the Society for the return to Islam in Spain, which later became the Islamic Community of Spain .

Courtesy: In Other reports:

The news has been a blow to the Islamic community in Spain as it was not known that Escudero suffered from any disease, as confirmed by Romero, who said that, above all, Mansur will be remembered as "a great human being: tolerant, open to all and away from any dogmatism. "

Noting that Mr Escudero was one of the signatories to the Agreement of Cooperation between the Spanish State and the Islamic Commission of Spain in 1992, Romero has emphasized the defense of Mansur of shared prayers in the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, and his integrated vision of all religious faiths.